DEA details life sentence for large-scale drug trafficking organization leader

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials recently announced the sentencing of Jorge Sanchez Morales, aka “Capulina,” 47, to life in prison for leading a large-scale drug trafficking organization.

In November 2022, an El Paso jury found Sanchez Morales guilty of conspiracies to import and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine, conspiracy to commit international money laundering, and laundering monetary instruments.

The DEA noted court documents showed Sanchez Morales operated a drug trafficking organization spanning from Mexico to El Paso and on to Atlanta from 2002 to 2019, adding in the early 2000s, Sanchez Morales worked out of Atlanta, trafficking cocaine and other drugs with Sinaloa Cartel operatives.

According to the DEA, the court sentenced Sanchez Morales to life in prison for the drug conspiracies and 20 years imprisonment for conspiring and laundering monetary instruments.

“The men and women of DEA are laser-focused in our mission of defeating the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels,” DEA El Paso Division
Special Agent in Charge Greg Millard said. “We will continue to tirelessly target these cartels and their associates involved in the manufacture or distribution of methamphetamine and other illicit, synthetic poisons that are killing Americans at record rates.”

Western District of Texas U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza said the sentence serves as another step forward in the government’s efforts to disrupt and dismantle some of the most dangerous drug trafficking organizations.

“My office is committed to working with our law enforcement partners, within this district and beyond, to hold accountable those who attempt to poison our communities and carelessly endanger Americans,” Esparza said.